Promise Me Forever
by rogueicephoenix
Summary: [AU] Is forever really meant to be promised? Fourteen children present. Fourteen promises made. But as secrets emerge, how many will be kept?
1. Prologue: Promises Made

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. If I did, I'd never share Yoko or Suichi.

_I'd like to dedicate this story to Our Lady of __Fatima__'s Class of 2004, especially to Diane, Kat, Michael, and any of the other idiots like us who had to stay in the school for a whopping 10 years. Imagine if we were as crazy as these guys... I'll miss all of you, no matter how much I say I won't. Well, most of you._

Promise Me Forever

By: rogueicephoenix

Prologue: Promises Made

Suichi Kurama Minamino, Yoko Kurama Minamino, and Hiei Koorime-Jaganshi huddled together in the schoolyard, talking quietly. The four-year-olds were initiating their secret pact once again.

"Best friends forever?" Yoko asked solemnly.

"Yup."

"Yup."

"And we'll share our cookies at snacktime forever?"

"Yup."

"Um... Yup."

"Oooooooooh! S'weeeechi and Yokoooooo and Hiiiiiiiiei are telling seeeeecrets!" Kazuma Kuwabara yelled at the top of his lungs, bringing the rest of that kindergarten class running to the once private circle.

"No! No we're not! Kazuma's lying again!" Hiei desperately said.

"What's the secret, Hiei?" his sweet twin sister asked.

"Nothing..." but his resolve was weakening and Yukina knew it.

"Pretty please, Hiei?"

The little boy looked to Yoko and Suichi, who both shrugged.

"Fine. Listen to Yoko, 'cause he's the one who thought of it. We all have to promise, 'kay?"

"Promise to be friends forever?... Promise to share our cookies at snacktime forever?... Promise to tell each other everything forever?... Promise to keep secrets forever?..."

Fourteen children present.

Fourteen promises made.

But as secrets emerged, how many would be kept?

* * *

_Notes: Thanks for reading! Anyone who's read(ing) YSUtS! will see that this story's a bit different, and a complete AU. I know I was thinking about writing a sequel to it, but my brain needs a break from Hogwarts. Just a warning: I've put a lot of OC's in this fic, and it's set in __New York__, in a __Catholic __School rather than in Japan__. Anyone who complains about my choice to call Kuwabara by his first name or my choice to make him and Yusuke friends from the very beginning will be clobbered with a nice aluminum bat. Oh, and another warning: This is just a trial chapter. If no one likes it, I'm pulling it. Anyway, please review!_


	2. First Things First

DISCLAIMER: rogueicephoenix doesn't own Yu Yu Hakusho. Hasn't she made this clear after the bazillion times she wrote it on her YSUtS chapters?

Chapter 1: First Things First

_Dream Sequence_

_"Hi, Kazuma!"_

_Slowly, the said child reached down to hold the hand of his favorite girl, Yukina, and was about to plant a nice little kiss on her cheek when her twin brother broke them up._

_"DON'T YOU TOUCH MY SISTER! I'LL KILL YOU!" Hiei yelled at the top of his lungs (and a magnificent pair of lungs they were). With that, he pulled the wooden play-katana from out of his belt and began to poke Kazuma with it._

_"Hiei!" the Minamino twins cried out, and ran to pull their friend back. It was too late, however, and Kazuma had begun to cry._

_"HIEI! CORNER! NOW!" Genkai roared._

_End Dream Sequence_

Hiei Koorime-Jaganshi woke to the annoying beeping made by his stupid alarm clock. He reached out and slammed his hand on the snooze button, but knew that his mother would be in soon to tell him to get his lazy butt out of bed.

School needed to die. Preferably before he graduated this year. And it needed to die a slow, horrible death by mutilation. Or, like, be dissolved by acid.

Yeah.

"Hiei, get up. NOW."

"Hn." The boy rolled out of bed and slipped into his normal routine. His normal, hated, stupid routine. Wash up, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush his teeth, and catch the bus to school with his twin sister, Yukina.

Thankfully, the Minamino twins were already there and saving him a seat, having gotten on two stops before. Yoko was watching his brother scrawl something on a piece of paper and motioned for Hiei to sit on the other side of Suichi. It was almost impossible to tell that they were twins, just as it was almost impossible to tell that Hiei and Yukina were twins. One was silver and gold and the other was a rose- red and green. They had the same voice, though, wore their hair short to fit in with the stupid school rules, and their minds were incredible. Not to mention that they were perfectionists.

"Latest plan," was all that the silver-haired Yoko said.

Hiei nodded in understanding.

* * *

Kayko Yukimura and her best friend Yukina Koorime-Jaganshi were talking animatedly at the front of the bus as they flipped through the newest issue of Teen Lady. They weren't interested in the latest clothing styles shown so much as the waaay cute actors and singers that were featured.

"Hey Yukina, look. It's _Kazuma,_" Kayko whispered, giggling, as she pointed to the red-head who was currently running to the bus stop.

"Kayko! Stop!" Yukina panicked when her best friend couldn't stop giggling. "And anyway, look at who's with him!"

"Yusuke? Urg, he's so infuriating. Like a little brother that you wish you didn't have."

"That's not what you said yesterday!" Now it was Yukina who was the one giggling, and Kayko who was blushing.

* * *

The Carroll twins were the ones who boarded the bus next. Yes. Another set. (Their grade was always dreaded as The Year of the Twins.) They were the youngest of the three pairs, and the ones who looked the most alike. They wore their brown hair the same length and had the same dark brown eyes and were the same height. The only thing that separated them was the fact that Anastasia wore glasses, and those were temporary, as she was going to get contacts when she was old enough.

Their personalities, however, were quite different. Both had above average intelligence, but Sarah was the one who was outwardly brilliant and popular. Anastasia was the twin who couldn't care less and who usually ran with Yoko, Hiei, and Suichi. Now, in fact, she was sitting right across from the three.

"Plan?"

Suichi handed it to her silently.

"Backup plan?"

"Don't need one. This one's fool-proof," Yoko said.

Anastasia studied the paper for a moment, considering all of the possibilities, and then nodded.

"When?"

"First period. We have gym. It's 29 out."

"Wonderful. Who's going?"

"Hiei. He's the fastest."

"Funds?"

"Ours are in."

Anastasia tossed a small black pouch to Hiei, who caught it neatly.

"Brilliant."

* * *

"Yusuke Urameshi, where did you think you were going?!" Vice-Principal Koenma asked as he hauled the squirming 8th grader back into the school. Oh, the joys of having his father as the principal of the school. Why on earth couldn't he have chosen another occupation? Troublesome kids, troublesome kids, and more troublesome kids. Not to mention the parents! If there was hell on Earth, then this was it.

"And you!" Koenma said, rounding on the Door Guardians- 8th graders with the duty of making sure no strangers came into the building, a duty that ended at 8:15. "Why didn't you tell him to stop?!"

"Sorry, Koenma, sir. Yusuke told me that he was going to the library to pay his late fee," Michelle Liu lied smoothly. She didn't look once at her partner, Sarah Carroll. "Was I hearing wrong, Yusuke?"

"No. Jeez, you can be so paranoid, VP." Koenma would've hit Yusuke if it hadn't been against the law.

Koenma looked from one Door Guardian to the other and then to Yusuke.

"Fine. But next time I catch you going out of the building during school hours, you'd better have a note from your teacher, got it, Yusuke?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

When Koenma had finally tramped upstairs and back to his office, Paul Martinez and Kazuma Kuwabara came out of hiding in the staircase leading down to the cafegymatorium (1).

"Is he gone yet?" they whispered, and Michelle nodded.

"You cowards!" Yusuke accused, but reserved any hitting until they were off school grounds.

"Whatever. It's a hide or be caught world, Yusuke. We just chose the better one. Now let's go," Paul said, and bolted into the biting October air. Kazuma and Yusuke quickly followed.

"Why do you lie for them?" Sarah asked Michelle.

"Just 'cause."

Sarah sighed. She would never understand her best friend. "If you say so."

* * *

_Notes: (1) Cafegymatorium- A large room, usually in the basement of a school, that is used as a cafeteria, gymnasium, and auditorium._

_The good stuff isn't quite here, though I did enjoy this chapter. Suspenseful? Yes? No? No. Tell me in the review I _know _you're writing out. Right now. ::narrows eyes:: Aren't you?_

Bobby: And this is the part where I outline r.i.p.'s plans insofar. Firstly, she's going to try to have a "flashback nine years!" moment in each chapter because she wants to add an element of cuteness to her story. On that note (either F or G; I haven't been practicing my flute often enough), r.i.p. says that she can't guarantee that she won't kill off a character. Or two. Heck, for all she knows, they might all die. But she is going to plan this all out very carefully and will tell you if she intends to create a pairing. She has some parts written clearly in her mind (visualized, actually) and believes deeply that this is going to be like one of those WB teen drama-ish things. In other words: Be prepared for about a hundred plot twists. So there. Now go ahead and flame her _please._ I can't stand her ego much longer.

_But Bobby, I named someone after you!_

...Please don't flame her.

**_Responses:_**

**_Lobs-StAcEy-Ters—_**_Yay! My first reviewer for this story! Thank you! Gracias! Obrigado! Merci! Danke! Arigato! Salamat!_

**_jaderabbit—_**_I love that word! Thank you so much!_


	3. The Stuff Ain't Cheap

Disclaimer: I own- ::lawyers gang up on r.i.p and threaten her with bat:: -nothing! Well, none of the YYH stuff. 

Chapter 2: The Stuff Ain't Cheap

The first class bell rang. Suichi and Anastasia exchanged glances and watched the other eighth grade class head down to gym. Two minutes and counting.

"All right, class. Notebooks. Heading, objective, you know the drill." Slowly, Anastasia did as her homeroom teacher, Ms. Michaels, said. Ten seconds. Eight. Six. Four. Two.

"Excuse me, Ms. Michaels?"

"Yes, Anastasia?" The said student walked up to her teacher and began to explain something to her in a hushed voice.

"Is that so? Certainly."

"Thank you so much!"

Suichi admired how sincere that sounded.

* * *

Yoko and Hiei waited in the cafegymatorium as Ms. Genkai began to separate them into teams. 

Anastasia came running in.

"Ms. Genkai, so sorry to disturb you, but Ms. Michaels needs Hiei for a bit. Something about a make-up test? She said she put a note in your mailbox."

"This note?" Genkai held up the slip of paper that Yoko had doctored and Anastasia had delivered. "Go ahead, Hiei."

It was all up to Hiei now. He bolted out of the school building and ran to the deli across the way.

"One chicken cutlet, mayo, roll. One bologna, ketchup, white. One salami, plain, white. And one tuna, white."

"You're late, young man," Alice the deli lady said, motioning at Hiei's gym uniform.

"Hn. I know. That's why I'd like to get this stuff quickly."

Alice raised an eyebrow, but got the sandwiches together quickly.

"Will that be all?"

"Plus this." Hiei shoved over eight drinks and about sixteen pounds of candy.

Hiei ran as fast as he could back to the school and stashed the bags of food in the secret nook between the kindergarten building and the actual school and the bags of candy into his sweatshirt.

"Hurry up, we've only got about a minute until the bell rings!" Anastasia said as she held the side door open for him. Hiei passed two bags to her.

It was another mission completed.

* * *

Kayko watched Anastasia enter the classroom, her sweatshirt balled up in her arms, and wondered why she'd been allowed to leave the room twice already. 

It didn't matter anyway. Anastasia hung out with what might be perceived as the wrong people. Sure, Yusuke was bad, but that was because he hadn't had quite the best life. The Minamino brothers and Hiei, however, were bad just for the hell of it, and Anastasia was always caught up in the middle of it somehow. She didn't care about anything anymore, really, and was just a new person altogether.

And the new Anastasia wasn't one of Kayko's friends.

* * *

Fast forward a few hours, to recess. In class 8A, Yukina and Kayko tested each other for their test in Social Studies during last period. Suichi and Anastasia were battling each other out at chess, finally giving up when a Nerf ball hit the board and sent the pieces flying. 

"Who won?" the idiot who threw it asked.

"Shut up," the two players muttered in unison.

Meanwhile, class 8B was enjoying a rendition of "It's Gonna Be Me" (a.n.: Nsync, remember? I used to love that song!) from Sarah and Michelle. Such a cruel dare! But in the corner of the room, Yoko and Hiei were getting high off sugar.

The science teacher was going to be in for one hell of a class.

* * *

"Hey there, Bobby-girl," Yoko greeted Anastasia at lunch. "Awesome preformance." 

"Thanks."

"Did you eat all of the candy yet?" asked Suichi.

"Almost."

"You shouldn't have. We're going to have a field trip in a week or two, and I know for a fact that you're broke, Yoko."

"DAMN!" the silver haired one burst out. An idea popped into his head suddenly, and he cleared his throat. "And we'll share our cookies at snacktime forever?"

The other three groaned.

"Why do you always bring that back to haunt us?"

"Talk about it. And you don't have to live with him. It's like perpetual blackmail," Suichi said, and rolled his eyes.

"Well then you shouldn't have made the promise!" said Yoko defensively.

"We were four. Did you remember that?" Hiei asked.

"Extremely well."

"That was the year Suichi broke his arm, you broke your wrist, Paulie broke his nose, I broke my leg, and Bobby-girl sprained her ankle. St. John's had a good year." The three others laughed, remembering how Ms. Genkai, the then kindergarten teacher, had almost been sued by the group of parents.

_Flashback_

_Genkai was stuck with the brats at recess. The worst time to be stuck with them. Paul Martinez and Ker Nalos had decided that climbing the metal gate was a wonderful idea and Yusuke had decided that throwing rocks at them as they neared the top was amusing. Genkai only barely caught them both as they fell, and put Yusuke on The Wall. Yukina, Kayko, and Michelle were lying on their coats or sweaters and either sunbathing or napping (Genkai wasn't sure which) as Kazuma watched them. Anastasia and Sarah were playing with that Shep-Shep bunny thing. Ricardo Garcia was chasing Arielle Stevens around. And finally, Yoko, Suichi, and Hiei were having a private conference about one thing or another._

_"Ms. Genkai! Lookit Paulie! He's just lyin' there! I hit him wit the rock when he was climbin' an' now he's just lyin' there!"_

_Genkai spun around._

_End Flashback_

* * *

Sarah watched her sister and her friends laugh. It seemed like they were always doing that. Laughing. Or making plans. 

It wasn't like that with her friends. They were more interested in material things than jokes and reminiscing. Well, except for Michelle, who was on a constant high, and spoke about a thousand words a minute.

"So, he was like, 'Get a room,' and Lisa was like, 'F- you, SOB. You don't mean anything to me anymore!' and that's how my sister and her ex broke up. Total tragedy, you know, but Lisa just can't keep her mouth off other guys, if you catch my drift." Sarah nodded and began to eat her lunch again.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you why you always have to eat school lunch when Ana gets deli."

"She probably gets it before school starts," Sarah replied, making a face at the nasty hamburger.

"Not so, 'cause she's one of the first in the building in the mornings. 'Once your bus drops you off at school, you must go inside the school building immediately.' Rule two. Plus, there's been a lot of lunch theft going on, remember?"

"Well then it appears out of thin air. I really don't want to know if Ana's engaging in some kind of... criminal activity."

* * *

_Notes: Never thought I'd see the day that Hiei would laugh. Like, actually laugh. Plus, telling me that the charries are OOC is completely useless for the beginning portion of this story. They're modern-day New Yorkers, remember? Of course they're going to be OOC for a while. But they'll get into character, I swear. All they need is a tiny shove in the right direction. Heh. ::evil planning at work:: Don't get too attatched to Yoko. No, I'm just messing with ya. I may've killed Kurama off in Crimson, but I'd never do it again. I don't think._

_Not very reassuring, am I?_

And now I, Bobby, as the more responsible alter-ego, will tell you that r.i.p.'s idea of a 'cute' flashback had failed miserably. She will be punished for her misjudgment! But I'm really sorry that I won't be able to respond to reviews this chapter 'cause I've gotta finish homework!


	4. Sorry For Caring

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. At all. Except on Tuesdays. No, I'm just joking.

Chapter 3: Sorry For Caring

Tuesday morning, Yusuke actually decided to come to school. Why? Because Tuesday meant that the girls would be wearing skirts instead of sweatpants. And that meant flipping season.

"YUSUKE, YOU **JERK!** YOU **PERVERT!**" Kayko screamed when Yusuke flipped up her skirt, and slapped him.

But on to his next prey. Ah, yes, the popular girls who wore their skirts so high, what did it matter if he flipped them up?

"JACKASS!"

Yusuke could've sworn she'd broken his nose. But hell, it was worth it. She'd been wearing a thong.

* * *

Suichi liked math. It was one of his favorite subjects, in fact. Which would make one wonder why he hated going to the class. Maybe it was the classroom. It didn't feel right. Yeah. That was it. Which would explain why Suichi had spent all last year with the classroom as his homeroom and he didn't feel at thing. Dammit, what was wrong with him?!

But as soon as Suichi entered the classroom, he remembered the reason for his distaste. The teacher. He was new, this year, and had an odd sense of what was appropriate attire for a Catholic school. He never cut his hair, it seemed like, and he wore all black and purple. And then there was that mask that he sometimes wore, the mask that the rest of the school had dubbed "The Michael Jackson Mask" and argued over its purpose, as there was obviously no plastic surgery going on and there wasn't any outbreak of SARS.

Mr. Karasu was only the creepiest teacher to ever come to Our Lady of Fatima School.

* * *

Paul hated math. The only relatively okay side of the damn thing was the teacher. He was odd, and had a habit of picking on poor Suichi Minamino. Not that Paul cared, really. He was just glad it wasn't him.

Really, what Paul did for most of the 45 minutes was make animal noises. It was fun to see Karasu's reaction to it all. Call him immature, whatever. This was an experiment, if you will- an experiment in patience. How long would Karasu be able to hold out before exploding?

"Whichever imbecile is making those distracting sounds, STOP. IT. NOW. Or shall I get the detention cards out? Hmm?"

Only 15 minutes? That was no fun.

* * *

Kazuma kept the lookout for the love of his life. The one and only. The perfect Botan, assistant kindergarten teacher! And there she was, her blue hair streaming out behind her as she walked into the schoolyard and to the teacher's lounge.

"Hey there, pretty lady," Kazuma greeted her like the oh-so-sexy 13-year-old he was.

"Ug. Kazuma. Hi. Now run along like a good boy and play with your friends."

"Anything you like, Botan, baby."

Botan almost gagged as she scampered away.

"Dude, you suck," Paul said, almost choking on his laughter.

"What?"

"She's too old for you! She treats you like a four-year-old!"

"Shut up."

* * *

"He's not worth it, Yukina," Kayko assured her friend, who was trying to smile. They'd just witnessed the scene between the teacher and the student.

"Oh. Right. Do you have any paper on you, Kayko?" Yukina asked, already pulling out a pencil from her pocket. Her friend nodded in a comforting way and passed the looseleaf to her.

Quickly, Yukina began to sketch something, sniffing every so often and brushing her tears away. She erased a line here or there before taking out her always handy box of colored pencils. The finished product was delivered to Kayko's hands within a matter of minutes. It was a dark scene of a blue-plumed bird, completely realistic. Hands reached out to trap it and pull it back from where it once flew in the violet sky.

"It's beautiful, Yukina," Kayko whispered.

"Thanks."

Drawings like this were like jewels, rare and beautiful, and came usually only when Yukina was feeling some sort of deep emotion.

* * *

That same drawing was tacked up in Yukina's room by the end of the day. It joined the fifteen others already hung up.

"What're you doing?"

Yukina jumped, startled at her brother's sudden appearance in the doorway, and poked herself with the thumbtack.

"Don't do that, Hiei."

"Did he make you cry again?" Hiei asked, observing his sister's latest drawing.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Kazuma Kuwabara. He did, didn't he? I'm going to kill him, I swear."

"Hiei! No, he didn't all right? And if he did, it's my problem!" Yukina turned away from her brother, angered at how he always felt the need to protect her from everything. She didn't need to be sheltered!

"Sorry for caring," was all Hiei said before exiting and shutting the door behind him.

* * *

"Hey Ana?" Sarah asked her sister while they were doing homework.

"Hm?"

"Where do you keep getting the deli food?"

"Dunno. It appears out of thin air right around lunchtime. Maybe you could explain it."

Sarah sighed at her obstinate twin.

* * *

_Wow, two twists in one chapter? I'm on a roll! Though, my lack of a flashback more than makes up for it. So: How come, in chapter 1, in the dream sequence, it was Kazuma who liked Yukina and now it's the other way around? –and- Mr. Karasu, eh? Two questions that I swear I'll answer. If you keep reviewing._

_Ah, and to anyone reading YSUtS!... My computer is being stupid and I can't even turn it on.(I'm using a family member's.) So, unfortunately, I've completely LOST the last 2 chapters and a chapter of the deleted scenes. Just be patient and I'll, erm, fix the problem as best I can._

::Bobby sighs:: The reason why the computer crashed is still unknown to us, despite the multiple beatings and pleas that we have bestowed upon it.

_**Thanks to:** jaderabbit, slave2anime, ShadowFox777, and Lobs-StAcEy-Ters!!!_


	5. Singing Buses

Disclaimer: Ahem. I. Don't. Own. It.

Chapter 4: Singing Buses

Field trips were a good thing for Sarah. A wonderful learning experience mixed in with a lot of social time. Dress down, too. Excellent. And even better, this was a trip to a colonial thingamabob.

The bus ride was fun, too. She and her friends sung songs the whole way, much to the chagrin of their homeroom teacher.

* * *

Halloween. Hiei's most favorite holiday of the year. It was wonderful. Dressing up like an idiot, well, no, that wasn't all that much fun. But getting candy was only the BEST thing in the world. Especially since it was free. Hiei only had to dig out that ugly gorilla mask that he wore every year and JACKPOT! Enough candy to last him through to Thanksgiving. _If_ you knew where to go, of course. And where the Minaminos, Hiei, and Ana went trick-or-treating, whoa. Candy GALORE.

_Memory_

_Hiei, Yukina, Yoko, Suichi, Anastasia, and Sarah ran around, ringing about a hundred doorbells and waiting for people to answer. _

_Yukina was dressed in a pretty blue dress and a tiara was perched on her head; she was a beautiful little princess, dainty and smiling. Just about every candy-giver commented on how gorgeous she looked. Hiei, on the other hand, had his face was hidden behind a black scarf, and only his eyes showed. In his hands was a play-sword that he hit doors with, making the owners of those doors laugh in delight at the cute little kid. Nevermind that he wasn't dressed up as anything in particular, he was cute! _

_Sarah was dressed as a genie, her bellybutton showing in her two-piece outfit. Every so often, one of the three mothers would poke her in the tummy and laugh as she squirmed. Anastasia was a different kind of princess from Yukina. She was dressed more like a fairy princess, with a crown of flowers and a layered dress of fiery red and orange, multicolored wings sprouting from her back. _

_Yoko was dressed almost as extravagantly as a fox. He wore a headband of cute fox ears and his toga-like garments were all white, even though his mother had _tried _to tell him that foxes were usually reddish-brown. Poking out of the back of his pants was a cute little silver tail that kept on falling out of place and dragging on the floor. Sarah had offered to "pull it out of your butt" several times already (which was hilarious to all three mothers), and Yoko had pulled her hair at the very suggestion. And last but not least, Suichi was dressed as his own type of hero, who used a whip and who didn't wear those weird superhero outfits. In fact, this hero wore a long tunic over pants, which was a lot better than underwear over women's tights._

"_Yo! Wassup, ma homies?" Yusuke called from the doorway. He was dressed like- like a pimp! With the floppy, furry purple hat and the ten pounds of bling-bling, not to mention the cane that he leaned on, it was hard for the three mothers not to roll on the floor laughing._

"_Yusuke, you look dumb," was what Hiei said. "But you always look dumb, so-"_

"_Hiei!"_

_End Memory_

Hiei and Yoko cringed when the entire bus began to sing, both of them jolted out of daydreams of CANDY. Thankfully, both had brought their CD players, and turned them waaay up. Yoko also took out his cell phone and texted his brother.

_Bus is singing._

To which Suichi replied: 'Where's it's mouth?'

"Cell phone away, Yoko!" Mrs. Fernandez yelled abruptly when she caught sight of the object.

"Dammit."

"WHAT WAS THAT, YOUNG MAN?!"

* * *

"I think Yoko's in trouble," Suichi said mildly to Anastasia, and showed her his brother's latest text.

_Ug._

"Ah well. Oh, no, here he is."

_In deep shit. g2g._

"Wonderful."

* * *

"Yukina, what are you staring at?" Kayko asked her friend worriedly.

"Oh, nothing, Kayko. Just the ducks, I guess. The tiny ones are cute, aren't they?"

"Yeah. Listen, are you sure that you're not feeling bad about what happened last week? With Kazuma, I mean?"

"I'm okay with it, I guess. I just need some time to get over it, I think."

* * *

"Damn, pigs smell," Anastasia said, her voice muffled behind her sweatshirt, which was pushed up to cover her nose.

"When are we going to the graveyard, though? Wonder if they have a few open pits I can push Miss Kentucky into," Yoko muttered, referring to the teacher that had just issued him two detentions. "I don't think I'm going to get valedictorian this year."

"I thought you didn't want to be valedictorian," Suichi pointed out, and sniffed the air tentatively before choking.

"You always want what you can never have," was Yoko's reply as he patted his brother's back. "Are you going out for it, Hiei?"

"Hell no. I'm a slacker with issues, remember?"

"Bobby-girl?"

"Yup. If it means shocking the shit out of the rest of the school, then hell yeah."

"Are you sure this has nothing to do with sibling rivalry?" Suichi asked.

"Not completely."

* * *

Yusuke and Paul had gathered by the gift shop, and were only waiting for Kazuma to arrive.

"Guys, I'm not sure about this," the carrot-haired one said once he'd finally gotten there.

"Then don't do it. But you'd better not snitch, got it?" Yusuke told him, the threat in his eyes evident. _You tell and I'll smash your face into the damn pavement._

"Whatever. Hey, the chick at the counter's pretty cute."

"There you go, Kazuma. You distract her and we'll get on with our- ahem- business." Paul ran a hand through his tightly curled brown hair. Kazuma still hesitated.

"All right. But be quick."

"Sure thing." Slowly, the three ambled into the gift shop. Kuwabara immediately went to the cashier. Thankfully, at nearly 6', Kazuma didn't look 13, and his rather deep voice completely led the cashier to believe that she was being wooed by a 17 year old, at least.

Meanwhile, Yusuke and Paul were snatching up wooden pop guns, rock candy, and other such goods, depositing them in the pockets of their sweatshirts.

"Hey Kazuma! We're finished looking. Let's go!"

"Oh, fine. Seeya!" When they'd gotten out of the shop, the three gave each other triumphant smiles.

* * *

Michelle watched Paul, Kazuma, and Yusuke celebrate and shook her head. She'd seen them shoplift. And she hadn't said a thing. What was wrong with her? She was supposed to be responsible, that was why she'd been chosen for the Almighty Job of Door Guardian. Maybe she thought that they didn't really mean it all. Maybe she thought that they didn't deserve to be suspended, or even expelled. Maybe she thought they deserved another chance.

But one of these days, they'd overstep their bounds and Michelle would run out of second chances to give them.

* * *

_Can you imagine Yusuke as a pimp? There was a little kid who was the brother of a jerk in my grade, and on Halloween, he came in decked out like a little pimp! He had the $ necklace and everything. It was beyond cute!_

_Oh, and about the overall lack of a definite plot... Um, well, I'm working on it. By the way, just so you know, I put this up at Media Miner. I dunno why, I guess just because I've got nothing else to do._

_**Responses:**_

_**slave2anime, Lobs-StAcEy-Ters—**Thanks!!_

_**Shives (And anyone else who wanted an explanation)—**Okay, so about the plan: Hiei went out to get food from the local deli in the middle of the day. Usually, if you do this, you can get: detention for MONTHS, a dress-down ban, suspended from school, or expelled if you do it more than once. Umm... is there anything else you're confused about? Or was I explaining the wrong thing altogether?_

_Oh, and I might take you up on your offer of an OC. The e-mail address got cut off, though, so could you re-send it to me? And thanks for reviewing!_

_**poltergeist report—**Oh, my bad! My apologies! I get carried away with the disclaimer sometimes, don't I? Thanks!!_


	6. Can I Return You?

Chapter 5: Can I Return You?

_Daydream Sequence_

_The little pots, soil, and seeds that Genkai had convinced Vice-Principal Koenma to give her funding for were neatly set up in a row in the schoolyard._

"_All right, now pick a place and sit down. Then wat- Yoko, Suichi, what are you doing?"_

"_We're planting, stupid," Yoko answered, his voice as sweet as ever. So sweet, in fact, that Genkai completely missed the 'bad word' at the end of his statement._

"_I didn't say for you to start yet."_

"_We don't care. We're already finished, right Suichi?" His twin nodded vigorously and whispered something in Yoko's ear. The silver-haired boy grinned and gave a low little snicker._

"_Fine! Let's see if you did it-" Dammit, the boys were better gardeners than she was! Not a single speck of soil out of place! "Right. Well then, everybody can follow your example, okay?"_

_Not okay. Kuwabara and Yusuke got into a soil slinging fight, half of the kids devoured the seeds given to them, and when it began to rain, they scattered everywhere and ran around._

_End Daydream Sequence_

Suichi was watering his plants. Most of them were roses. They were intricate, vivid, beautiful. And yet, beneath the beauty, they held a sort of danger. Anastasia had told him once that in the original telling of Sleeping Beauty, the evil fairy had hidden the spindle in a rose. Fascinating.

Sometimes Suichi wished that he were more like a rose, more dangerous, and not all eye candy.

"Suichi! Red! Pick up the phone!" Yoko yelled from his room.

The twin put the receiver to his ear and said, "Hello?"

"Suichi. It's Ana."

"And me." Hiei.

"And me." Yoko.

"'Kay. Plan?"

"We're going to steal Karasu's gradebook."

Suichi choked.

"Come again?"

"Karasu. Gradebook," Hiei repeated.

Suichi's end was silent.

"Yoko, what's he doing?" The silver haired one looked in on his brother.

"He's banging his head on the desk."

"Oh. So, Suichi." Anastasia, on her end, was grinning like the devil.

"Mm?"

"Would now be a good time to tell you we were just messin' with you?"

"YOKO!!"

"Cripes, man, I'm in your damn room! Don't yell in my ear!"

"No, but seriously. Suichi. We want to know if you can get your hands on a mini video camera."

"Why?"

"We want to get proof that Genkai and Principal Yama are sleeping together."

"Jesus! Who gave you people the sugar?!"

"Well, Yoko took-"

"Shut up, Hiei!"

"Can you just be serious for a minute and tell me what we're supposed to be planning?"

"Naw. Being serious is boring, right guys?"

"Yup," Hiei and Yoko responded in unison.

"I suppose you're right," Suichi sighed. "Turn around, Yoko," he called, and pulled out his stash of Pixie Stix from his drawer.

* * *

Yukina heard her brother on the phone. He never laughed like that when he was with her. And Yukina had to wonder, was it because she wasn't quite as important to him as his friends were?

She was so paranoid! First she told Hiei that she doesn't need his protection, and now she missed how close they were? How selfish of her!

"Yukina, dinner. Tell Hiei to come, too, all right?" Ms. Koorime told her daughter, sweeping her blue strands away from her face. Yukina nodded, and her mother went back into the kitchen.

"Hiei?" Yukina knocked on her twin's door. "Hiei?" She opened the door and stepped inside. "Mom said dinner's ready."

Hiei nodded and gave her the signal for 'one minute'. Meanwhile, Yukina studied Hiei's room. It'd been ages since she'd actually stepped foot in here, and a lot had changed. For instance, the walls had been painted black, and there were posters of bands she'd never heard of covering an entire wall. Not only that, but he'd hung a few cool looking swords up, all very samurai-ish. Yukina touched the tip of one with a finger, expecting it to be blunt.

It wasn't.

"Christ, Yukina!" Hiei burst out, slamming down the phone when he saw what she'd done.

_Now he's going to yell at me for bloodying his sword! Why can't I just stop being so-_

"Clumsy! I leave you alone for one second and you hurt yourself! Telling me that you don't need my protection- hmh! Now go get the box of Band-Aids and I'll fix you up."

Yukina, unwilling to make Hiei any angrier than he already was, followed his instructions.

"I'm sorry for bloodying your sword, Hiei," Yukina apologized softly.

"Idiot. What's worth more, a sword or a sister? I lost your receipt, so could you fill me in?" Hiei sighed, and put an arm around his shorter sister, leading her to the dining room. "You need another brain, Yukina, because the one you have obviously doesn't work right."

* * *

_Hiei, joking around?! ::faints::_

_iluvkuramaseyes: Sorry! I just had to. Hey, Bobby, back me up here! (I, by the way, am the alter-ego that no one ever wants around. ::sniff:: )_

::whistles:: I'm not getting involved. She's threatened to take away my Hiei plushie. ::whistles again:: But damn, this is just a complete mush of nothing. Just... STUFF.

_Ouchie. But anyway, plz review!_

_Oh, and Bobby, r.i.p., Thia, me, and any/all alter egos inside my brain must thank everyone (meaning poltergeist report 101 and slave2anime) for reviewing! You're all so kind!_


	7. Kick Me, Please

**Disclaimer: Rogueicephoenix doesn't own YYH.**

Chapter 6: Kick Me, Please

_Part One of Chapter 6_

Yusuke kicked at the door of the house once again before sinking down onto the front step. Dammit, why'd he have to forget his keys today, of all days? He'd known Atsuko wasn't going to be there when he came back, and yet... And worst of all? Yusuke had been the one to tell her to take the keys out of their hiding place beneath the 'Welcome' mat.

Dammit! It was freezing out here. Then again, December usually is, in New York.

The last time he'd done this, he'd been able to knock the door down. However, his mother had forbidden him from ever doing so again, and had gotten a heavy metallic door in the place of the wooden one. Who else had the keys, then? Kayko. But, no cell and the neighbors weren't about to let him use theirs. Walk to her house? No, Yusuke remembered that she was tutoring some little girl at the girl's house. He could always pick the lock. Except... no tools.

Hold on there. Picking locks? Right up Yoko Minamino's alley.

"Forget your keys?" Yoko asked as examined the lock.

"Obviously."

"Mom's not home?"

"Obviously."

"Brain's dead?"

"Huh?"

"The door was open. Or did you disturb my meditation time in order to lure me here for some sort of weird guy-to-guy pow-wow?"

"Shut up, Yoko. Perv."

"Hey, I said pow-wow. I didn't say you were trying to seduce me. Or is that just some kind of subconscious thou-"

"FUCK OFF!" Yusuke swung at the laughing, sneaky fox, who just ran off in the opposite direction.

* * *

Kazuma was miserable. Completely and utterly miserable. Miserable beyond belief. He felt like the idiot that Hiei Koorime-Jaganshi had always accused him of being.

_Idiot. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot._

Botan had had a 'talk' with him.

"_Listen, Kazuma. I'm sorry, but you seem to have the wrong idea about us."_

"_Are you talking about the idea that you and I are meant for each other?" He'd stared at her with intense eyes._

"_Bingo! That's the idea. Listen to me, Kazuma, I'm sure that you're a nice boy, but... well, I'm already engaged. To a guy who's my age. Not 13. All right? Do you understand what I'm talking about, Kazuma?"_

Yeah. He understood. Perfectly. He was a fool. An idiot. Imbecile. Same damn thing. What the hell was the matter with him? Hadn't he heard it enough times from his friends? _'She's too old for you!' 'She treats you like you're in kindergarten!'_

Being headstrong and proud really sucked.

* * *

Sarah wanted the position of valedictorian. Badly. So very badly.

But with a grade like this, how would she ever?

Sure, 85's were okay for some people but she. Wasn't. Some. People. And if religion was her best subject, how would she do on her other tests? Damn, did she and Ana switch brains or something? Because it was Ana who got 85's. It was Ana who was the slacker. Not Sarah.

Even worse was the fact that Ana had gotten a 95. A full ten points higher.

No. She wouldn't let this get to her. Sarah Carroll would be valedictorian, no matter what. If she had to kill off the competition, so be it.

Wow, that was one helluva scary thought to have.

Sarah Carroll, serial killer.

Huh. Didn't sound half bad.

* * *

Suichi had been cornered by the math teacher after school. Karasu. Mr. Karasu. And to tell the truth? Suichi had been frightened. Not of what Karasu had to say, no, but by the teacher himself.

"_Suichi, I've noticed that in the last few weeks, you haven't been preforming your best on these tests. Your last teacher had highly praised your ability, so it makes me wonder."_

"_Uh. Sorry about that. I just haven't been very focused lately. Thanks for pointing that out, Mr. Karasu."_

And he'd hightailed it out of there.

Not very in-character of him. It also made him seem weak, like he couldn't stand the pressure of talking one-on-one with a teacher. So Suichi promised himself: If Karasu ever came up to him again, he wouldn't so much as flinch. Just because the teacher was a bit odd didn't mean a thing...

Who the hell was he kidding?

Anastasia watched the bare trees outside of her window. Something about them just reminded her of kindergarten.

_Daydream_

"_Ooh, look, there's Yooooko! He's so cuuuuute, right, Ana!"_

"_Mmmmmmhmmmm!" Anastasia had said, swinging her arms, a difficult task to do, as she was bundled up in about a pound of winter gear._

"_Eeeew! Girls have cooooooooties! C'mon, Yoko, le's go." Hiei stuck his tongue out at Anastasia. Ana and Sarah only followed them._

"_Stop following! You're crazy!" Yoko just let Hiei do all the talking, grinning like the sly little fox he was._

"_Am not!" Ana hollered at the top of her voice._

"_Are too!"_

"_Am not!"_

"_Are too!"_

"_Hey, if you kiss Hiei, I'll tell you a secret!" Yoko yelled, and hid behind a snow-laden tree to watch. Ana and Sarah looked at one another for a moment, then at Hiei, who turned and ran. Sarah soon caught up with him and held him down while Ana pressed her lips to Hiei's and ran off to Yoko._

_End Daydream_

Now that was one weird memory. She couldn't even recall what the secret had been. To think- her first kiss was in kindergarten, with one of her (now) best friends.

Thank God they'd forgotten about it.

* * *

_Part Two of Chapter 6_

Suichi's latest math scores weren't getting any better. They weren't getting worse, either, but Karasu seemed to think it was important for Suichi to regain the status of Star Math Pupil.

Weren't there other kids for him to torture? Kids who were, like, failing?

"Suichi, is there a reason why you aren't doing well in this class?" Karasu asked straight out one day when he'd taken Suichi aside after class.

"Uh. No." _Remember, no flinching. No running. No. I will be like Yoko. Fearless._

"You aren't _afraid _of me, are you, Suichi?"

_Yes. Ding-ding-ding! You got it, you crazy psychopath with a vampire obsession!_

"No."

Karasu's eyes narrowed slightly, as if saying he knew Suichi wasn't telling the truth. One of his hands raised and came closer and closer to Suichi.

_No flinching. Don't flinch. Don't move. Don't flinch, dammit!_

The teacher's fingers landed in Suichi's hair. He flinched slightly.

"You really should grow your hair out, Suichi. It's a lovely color."

Ana saved the day.

"Hey! What the heck did you deduct five points off this problem for?! I got it right!" she asked, her voice disbelieving as she barged in, her eyes on her paper and not on Karasu, whose hand dropped from Suichi's head.

"Let me see that... Fine. You have your five points. But do not use the word 'heck' with me and do not address me with the word 'hey'. Disrespect is a valid excuse for me to give you detention, all right, young lady?"

"Sure."

Suichi wanted to shave off all his hair. Or wash it a hundred times and dye it green. God, that was one scary creep! So much for not flinching- he should've run!

* * *

Kazuma, before today, had never really noticed the similarities between Botan and Yukina. Maybe he hadn't wanted to. After all, the last time he'd really paid attention to Yukina was in fifth grade. And that was also the last time that he'd hit on her.

Why?

Because Hiei had smashed up Kazuma's face so bad he hadn't been able to see for weeks. The dentistry had cost a fortune, too. Thankfully, Yukina had broken them up before her brother broke any more ribs. Not that there were very many left unbroken, of course. Sure, Yusuke had beaten Kazuma up pretty bad at times, but this... Anger caused by the discomfort of a sibling was way more destructive than just beating people up for the hell of it, that was one of the two lessons that Kazuma had learned. And the other lesson: Size doesn't matter. Hiei might be short in comparison to Kazuma, and very compact, but just thinking of his punches made the red-head ache.

But as Kazuma watched Yukina walk home with Kayko, he realized that Botan... She just wasn't up to the standard that was Yukina. She lacked the grace, the gentleness, and the light tinkling laughter that the younger girl possessed.

Or maybe he was just on the rebound.

* * *

Yoko could just die for Christmas vacation. Okay, yes, there would be candy practically raining from the sky, but that wasn't the point. The point was that he was up to his neck in high school stuff. No, stuff wasn't a good word for it, because that implied that he might actually like to do some of it. No, the word was s-h-i-t. And there was a lot of it.

Yes, a lot of it had been done in, like, October and November, but there was still a lot of standardized testing left to do. Homework was being piled upon them like a sack of bricks. Bombardments of tests came flying from thin air.

Pearl Harbor had been hit hard on December 7, 1942- or something like that. But the eighth graders of OLF were being hit harder. Not to mention the fact that they were being bombed over 60 years later.

"AAAAAAAGH!" Yoko yelled at the top of his lungs. Damn, that felt good. Even better was when he threw a Tootsie Roll at the wall on the other side of the room and it chipped the plaster.

"What's wrong?!" Suichi asked as he ran to his brother's room.

"Life sucks, that's what's wrong."

"You don't know the half of it."

"Oh, I think I do. What's wrong with you? Your hair's all freaky."

Suichi brushed a hand through his red locks. "I was trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to pull it out."

"May I ask why?" Yoko asked, raising a silver eyebrow.

"Just for the fun of it, Yoko. I wanted to see how I'd look bald."

"I'll answer the question for you: Stupid."

"Hey, remember..."

_Memory_

_Kindergarten teacher Genkai was almost pulling her hair out from stress. Today, Yusuke had brought in a pack of gum, chewed it incessantly during class, (though Genkai and her assistant had told him to spit it out) and had put it into various classmates' hair. First it was Kayko, who'd screamed and slapped him; then it was Hiei, who'd chased his 'friend' around with scissors, threatening death; and then it was Yoko. And it was Yoko who gave Yusuke the best punishment of all._

_During nap time, Yoko, his twin brother, and Ana (who'd gotten roped into this, no one knew how) carried out their plot. Ana kept Genkai and the assistant busy with a stomach, head, and back ache. Suichi kept the lookout, just in case one of the teachers came into the boys' napping room and found them out. And Yoko..._

_When Yusuke woke up and went over to Genkai, she didn't know whether to scream or to laugh._

_On his face, in black magic marker, was written the word 'POO' and all over there were red and green marks. A chunk of the child's eyebrow had been taken out, and his hair was chopped off in odd places._

_Oh, boy._

_End Memory_

"Yep. That was one great revenge. Do you think maybe we could do that to Karasu? Because that guy has been giving homework like there's no freaking tomorrow." Yoko didn't notice the way that his twin brother stiffened at the name of the math teacher.

"Shave him bald, stick a few scissors through various body parts, and throw him out the window."

Yoko was a bit shocked at that. Suichi was the one who said stuff like, 'Nothing _too_ harsh, okay, Yoko? Don't dig your hole so deep you can't climb out of it.' He shut his jaw after a moment, then devised a test to see whether or not his brother was _that_ POed.

"Can we castrate him?"

"You read my mind."

Karasu must've flunked him.

Stupid teacher should've known better than to piss off one of the Minamino twins.

* * *

_**Notes (Read For Info):**_

_The FORMAL author of this fic would like to assure her readers that this was not an indication of any pairings, or whether there will even **be** pairings! Just wanted you all to know. Now I'll circle back to the rather unimportant ramblings..._

_i.l.k.e.! What the hell did you do!?_

_I made the story better! That first flashback! I just couldn't resist! It was so- so- so- KAWAII when it came into my head! ::giggles:: I love that word!_

That was inspired by our brother Thomas, who was such a ladies' man even at age three or four that he had all of the girls participating in kiss-tag with him as their target. ::shakes head:: And so, r.i.p., i.l.k.e. and I would like to dedicate this particular chapter to Thomas George, the guy who got even the pickiest of our friends to admit that they liked his eyes. ::sigh, sweat-drop:: Now that was mortification beyond belief.

_Umm... anything else significant? Oh, yeah, this was originally two chapters (hence the double-flashback), but I felt that it was just a little to short. So, until next time! REVIEW!!! (Sorry I forgot to put up the responses! )_


	8. Fourteen Minus Eleven is Three

Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho doesn't belong to rogueicephoenix.

Chapter 7: Fourteen Minus Eleven Is Three

Paul flipped through a yearbook. Specifically? His kindergarten one. So many of the faces there were familiar. Cuter and chubbier, sure, but still familiar. There was one face that he zoomed in on, though, that would remain that of a kindergartener in Paul's mind. Ker Nalos. One of the Promisers, as he'd come to call the group. Ker. Huh. What had happened to him?

Maybe he'd moved to Los Angeles, where his father had become some sort of indie movie director who'd written and directed hundreds of movies that were every bit as good as LOTR, but never got recognized. They lived in a small apartment and were struggling to survive on ramen, but Ker always found ways to scrounge up enough money for video games.

Or maybe they'd moved to Florida, where Ker had one day visited the Everglades and gotten lost. Maybe he'd then had to figure his way back, though not before being confronted by an alligator and having to fight it off.

Or maybe they'd moved to England, into some weird Victorian-style house that was creepy and haunted and that Ker had invited his new friends over to scare them.

But the most likely scenario was that Ker was simply in the suburbs, enrolled in a beautiful private school for rich kids.

* * *

Michelle stared at a picture of a ballerina that was posted on the wall of her very pink room. Such a girly room, but Michelle was used to it. She felt... at home in it.

Plus, that poster reminded her of the craziest kid.

"_I want to be a ballerina!"_

That statement still cracked her up. Why? Because along with it came the image of a little five-year-old boy twirling around and driving their lunch helpers nuts. Ricardo Garcia... what a character! His habits had been a bit weird, and he hated any of the Power Rangers, etc. that all of the other boys liked. No, Ricardo had played with her, Sarah, Kayko, Yukina, Anastasia, and Arielle when they'd taken out the pastel-colored ponies or the doll house.

But his mother had taken him out of the school when she'd learned that the poor kindergartener had been picked on by some second grade creeps. Whenever Michelle remembered that part of the story, she frowned. Stupid boys.

She had no doubts whatsoever that by now, Ricardo would've thrown out his old hopes for something more acceptable to his peers.

He would've made a fine dancer, though.

* * *

Kayko opened the textbook and pushed it in front of her and Arielle. Tutoring took up most of her time now, though it was for a good cause. If she raised enough money, then her parents wouldn't have to pay for Kayko's plane fare when they next went back to Japan. And that meant that she was responsible. Unlike that idiot Yusuke.

"All right. So: Possessive pronou-"

"Hey, Kayko?"

"Yes?"

"Do you remember when we were in kindergarten?"

Actually, Kayko had forgotten. Arielle had gotten put back a grade in 4th, and so was really supposed to be graduating this year. Over the years, however, they simply forgot that they'd ever been in the same classroom together. But now that Arielle had mentioned it, memories came rushing back.

_Flashback_

"_Clean up! Clean up! Clean up!" Genkai said loudly to the groans of her students. However, they complied, the toys scattered all over the room were put back in two minutes flat, and the children were sitting in a semi-circle around Genkai's assistant teacher, ready for attendance._

"_All right, boys and girls. Is everyone sitting down?"_

"_Noooooo," came the chorus of tiny voices._

"_Who's missing then?"_

"_Arielle. She's in the bathroom. Again," Genkai supplied, referring to Arielle Stevens. "Arielle, out of the bathroom! Now! It's time for Circle!"_

"_Aaall-right, Ms. Genkai. Just wait a little!" Genkai rolled her eyes and motioned for the assistant to proceed. There was no way that Arielle was coming out of the bathroom in the next hour. Odd, though, how the bathroom seemed to be spotless once she came out._

_End Flashback_

"Uh- yeah. Why?"

"Remember that promise that Yoko made us make?"

Kayko laughed almost to the point of crying.

"Y- yeah."

"Well, I'd like to, ummm... take advantage of that promise. Can I trust you with a secret, Kayko?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Don't laugh. I kind of... have a thing... for Yusuke. Urameshi."

Kayko's smile faded.

"I was almost hoping that you might... you know. Put in a good word for me."

Shocked silence ensued.

"Kayko?"

"Oh, yeah. If that's what you want, then of course, Arielle!" The smile that the 8th grader plastered on her face was fake, but surprisingly realistic-looking.

"Thanks a lot, Kayko! You're such a great friend!"

* * *

At home, Kayko wondered why she was feeling so... glum. What, was no one else supposed to like Yusuke? Not that she actually had a thing for the jerk, no way! It was just... odd. Yes, that was it. Odd. Because she'd grown up with Yusuke and they'd been sort-of friends for such a long time.

Yes. That was it.

* * *

_Notes: 'kay. This chapter: It's to explain what happened to the three charries who are no longer very prominent parts of the Promisers. Two of those stories actually happened (in a way). Arielle really is a girl who, like, cleans up the bathrooms that I took care of in my 8th grade year during lunchtime. She drove me crazy. And Ricardo? Oooh, boy, Ricardo. That boy can seriously send you to the loony bin. He's another one that my friend and I took care of and he made it hell._

_Thank you to all of my reviewers!! I love y'all! (PLATONICALLY!) Will you review again? Please?_


	9. Test Me

_Notes: Okay, really short chapter, and don't be surprised if it's complete crap (not even a flashback!). I just wanted to show you guys that I haven't forgotten about this! I know it's been a long time since I last updated, but I'm kinda stuck on this! Ouchie! I can't help it, I've got so many ideas for _Trick Questions_ because, well, I'm not sure why, and it's completely irrelevant. Um, if you have any SPECIFIC little things that you think could be added to this fic and help to get me out of my slump, then just drop it into your review!_

* * *

**  
  
Disclaimer:** r.i.p., i.l.k.e., and Bobby claim no ownership on: Yu Yu Hakusho (Togashi) or the lyrics from the song _We Believe_ (by Good Charlotte). 

Chapter 9: Test Me

Today was the day… The day… of the Molloy Scholarship test… The one that everyone wanted but just about no one got… especially not a full scholarship.

Today was December 11. There were 9 students from the graduating class of Our Lady of Fatima School: Kayko, Sarah, Ana, Hiei (who had to be dragged unwillingly to the site of the test—literally), Suichi, Yoko (another unwilling, who'd tried to escape out the back door before Suichi dragged him back by the collar), and three others (Michael, Michael, and Katie).

Was there competition between them?

Was that even a question?

Sarah had been studying up on math and English the night before, had slept early, and had had a great breakfast, as had Kayko. Sarah, Yoko, Hiei, and Suichi, however, had decided to tie up the phone line until about 10:00, when Shiori decided to get onto the line in _her_ room and kindly remind the boys that she had to call the doctor.

"But it's _ten,_ Mom," Yoko reminded her. "No one's on the phone at-"

Everyone heard him mutter something like, "Aw, shit, she got me again…"

"See you kids tomorrow…" Shiori trailed off, the smile in her voice quite evident.

"Bye! Seeya, guys!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, I'm not going tomorrow, anyway," Hiei grumbled before slamming down the phone.

"Is it me or does he seem extra grouchy?"

"Yoko?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you talking to me on the phone? We're in the same room…"

"…"

In any case, none of the four of them had had a spectacularly great breakfast (Hiei hadn't had any at all) and by the time they were let into the building, their stomachs were rumbling.

The test was… different. Take question #3, for instance:

_(3. ) In Greek mythology, --------- was the name of the boatman of the river __Styx_

_a.) __Charon_

_b.) Ceberus_

_c.) __Botan_

_d.) Phoebus Apollo_

Sarah panicked. Greek mythology?! They were supposed to know Greek mythology!?

Hiei snickered. Botan, boatman of the river Styx? As in, Botan, that ditzy kindergarten assistant? Yeah, maybe in another dimension! It had to be… um… Ceberus?

Yoko rolled his eyes. He knew this. Phoebus Apollo, that was the guy. He thought.

Kayko skipped that question. Surely that was just a fluke one, a joke that some proofreader had put in just to confuse them.

Suichi and Ana had the same thought: Are they kidding? Charon, duh! Pluto, the god of the underworld, was also the last planet in the solar system. Pluto's moon, Charon, was named after the person who ferried dead souls across the river. Duh. Who _didn't_ read Greek mythology?

* * *

"So, how was the test, guys?" Shiori Minamino asked, looking in the rearview mirror to see the children she had volunteered to drive home. 

"Terrible."

"Easy!"

Stares.

"Pretty good."

Stares.

"You people failed, you know that?"

"Yoko, that's not really nice to say," Shiori reprimanded lightly.

* * *

_"And in further news, another soldier was kille-"_

"Shut that off," Hiei commanded.

"Like hell. I need to know this stuff," Yoko replied, and turned up the volume. The two of them, Suichi, and Ana sat around in The Silver Haired One's room, either watching TV, or reading CD booklets, or listening to music.

"What, are you going to become President?"

"Like hell," Yoko repeated. "I'm going to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. And one day, I'm gonna send your ass to jail."

"That's the exact reason why you'd be called _Justice,_ right, Yoko?" drawled Suichi.

"Absolutely."

"And what could you do about the war, Yoko? Absolutely nothing."

"Em… Petition for an atom bomb?"

"Jackass!" Hiei responded angrily. _Dad's over there…_

"There's a woman crying out tonight/ Her world has changed/ She asked God why/ Her only son has died and now her daughter cries/ She can't sleep at night/ Downtown another day for all the suits and ties/ Another war to fight there's no regard for life/ How can they sleep at night/ How can we make things right/ Just want to make this right…"

The three boys stared at Ana.

She was watching the TV, headphones on her ears, disgust in her eyes as they played the destruction, the fiery destruction that had become so commonplace with each passing day.

"Don't you get so sick of politics? While they sit back in their wealth and warmth, they don't really _do_ anything about _anything_. They watch this stuff on TV and they say, 'Too bad,' or they just _count it._ Like the loss of life is something that's meant to be _counted._ Like it's just a number to add to all of the other numbers. Like people only mean something when they're dead and gone…"

Silence.

"Ana?"

"What?"

"Do you know what they call your type of thinking?" Suichi asked.

"No…"

"Idealism," Hiei answered, and Suichi nodded.

* * *

_Notes: To even take the Molloy Scholarship test, you've gotta have a 93 total average in 7th grade, and really high grades so far in the first semester of 8th grade. Then, you've also got to have really high standardized test scores. And just to let you know, they _did_ actually have mythology questions on it (which completely blew my mind 'cause I love mythology). Also, about Hiei being smart: Okay, yeah, Hiei's a slacker. Doesn't mean he's stupid. Besides, class participation doesn't count for much in jr. high. In my experience, at least._

_Yes. So, this was written while listening to the new Good Charlotte CD, and _We Believe_ hit me hardest at the moment. In particular about the 'suits and ties'. I was feeling particularly antagonistic towards the gov't, to add to it. The 'justice' conversation: based on a real convo by some of the boys in my Bio class._

* * *

**_Replies:_**

**_lobs-stacey-ters, poltergeist report 101, slave2anime—_**_Thankees__! Many of 'em!_

**_KuramaIsFine_****_—_**_Oh, yes. I have multiple personality disorder. Sensui, Gollum, and I all go to group counseling together. Isn't it unfortunate that all of us MPDs end up dead? Thanks for reviewing!_

**_erosgirl_****_—_**_Thanks for your suggestions! As you can see, no real Karasu-Suichi interaction in here, but the only other scene that I've got planned out has got a lot of it…I think… Anyway, thanks again!_


	10. Yellow, Kisses, and Christmas Pageants

**Disclaimer: **this author doesn't own Yu Yu Hakusho

**Warning:** this chapter may get a little OOC-y, particularly towards the end.

Chapter 10: Yellow, Kisses, and Christmas Pageants

When Yoko and Hiei entered the math classroom on Monday of the week before Christmas Vacation, they had to leave immediately. Why? Because they didn't want to let Karasu see them laughing like maniacs. And they weren't the only ones. One of the 8th grade teachers, Ms. Michaels, was still chucking at random moments. Even Sarah Carroll was hiding a huge grin behind her folder.

The worst thing about it? Later that afternoon, they'd have Karasu for Gifted. And Yoko highly doubted that he'd take being laughed at very kindly.

* * *

_A.N: Gifted, for anyone who doesn't know, is like an extra class after school for "smart people" that kids usually only go to because their parents either make them or because they get to do advanced math, painting with acrylics, and/or go to see Broadway shows._

* * *

Ana tried not to look at Karasu in Gifted class later on. He was explaining something about advanced math something-or-other, but there was a reason why her math scores were lower than her other scores.

"Anastasia, do you find something funny about Hiei's hair?"

Hiei turned around and gave her a look that said, 'Yes, do you?'

"Oh, no."

"It's proper etiquette to look at a person when you speak. Now answer the question."

"No, sir. I don't find something funny with Hiei's hair." Ana was holding her breath and biting her lips trying not to laugh.

Satisfied, Karasu turned back to the board and explained this or that before stopping again to look at a ready-to-burst-with-laughter Yoko.

"And you, Yoko. What is so hilarious?"

Yoko couldn't help what he said next.

"Oh, sir, I was just wondering about your hair. It's different today. It's yellow."

"I believe the word is blonde, Yoko."

"No, yellow. You know, like a crayon. Yellow. Did you use saffron?"

"Excuse me?"

"Saffron. Like that stuff you put in rice. It makes the rice-" here, Yoko snorted, "-yellow. 'Cause your hair is yellow, Mr. Karasu. It's-" snort, "-yellow."

Yoko and just about the rest of the class dissolved into piles of laughter.

"Oh my God, his hair is- is yellow!"

* * *

Sitting in detention on Tuesday, Yoko wasn't laughing at all. In fact, he was banging his head on the desk, wondering how in Hell he was going to nab valedictorian.

Though it _was_ pretty funny how they hadn't needed to castrate Karasu in order to get revenge.

* * *

Suichi was walking home alone. Hiei, along with his sister, was at their mother's work, probably playing games with the boss's son (Yukina, of course) or sulking because there wasn't anything better to do (Hiei, naturally). Ana, the good friend that she was, had ditched him for a soda and taco at Taco Bell, and Sarah was helping out with the Afterschool Program. No one else lived in the direction he was going, or at least as far. Yusuke had left him a while back, and traveling half-way home with a bunch of giggling, gossiping girls wasn't very high on his agenda, thanks very much!

But God was it freezing out! Suichi shrugged his arms out of the sleeves of his jacket in order to hold them closer to himself. It was a wonder if he didn't freeze to death while walking home!

_Remind me again why I decided that walking was a brilliant idea…?_

A horn honked. Suichi paid no mind to it until it honked again, seemingly at him. The red-head turned and froze in his tracks, like a deer in the headlights.

Huh, not a bad comparison.

Karasu sat in his car, motioning for Suichi to come over.

_Oh, okay, don't panic, don't panic… You can't pretend that you didn't see him, because you just turned all the way around… brilliant idea, moron… uh, pretend you're not who he thinks you are? Yeah, like he'll believe that! 'Quien eres?' 'Oh, Suichi, I see you're practicing your Spanish.' 'Uh… Quien es Suichi?' 'Suichi… Are you scared of me?' Must… not… strangle… him…_

"Hi, Mr. Karasu."

"Hello, Suichi!"

_He seems cheery,_ Suichi thought miserably.

"You look like you're freezing, Suichi. Where do you live? I'd be more than happy to drive you there…"

_…What did he just say?!_

"Er… no, that's fine, Mr. Karasu. I don't live very far away from here."

The newly blonde teacher looked skeptical. Still, he smiled and drove away, leaving Suichi on the curb.

The red-head sighed in relief.

* * *

"Kayko. Psst, Kayko!" Yusuke hissed at her as they walked up their block.

"_What,_ Yusuke!?"

"Let's go to Eckerd."

"Sure. But why? We just came from that direction."

"Yeah, I know. But I was thinking of dyeing my hair."

"WHAT?! I—I mean, what color?"

"Yellow. I mean, Karasu looks good in it, why can't—"

"Yusuke, that's not funny. We all know that Karasu looks terrible," Kayko stated, skirting a patch of ice.

"Hey, Kayko?"

"What now, Yusuke?"

"Remember Arielle?"

Kayko stiffened slightly.

"Yes."

"Why does she keep watching me in school?"

"WHAT?!"

"Chill, Kay—"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, WATCHING YOU IN SCHOOL!?"

"Kayko, chi—"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, WATCHING Y—?!"

"KAYK—"

"**WHAT DO YOU MEAN, WATCH—?!"**

Kayko was abruptly cut off when Yusuke smashed his mouth to hers.

Wait…

What?

He was…

…kissing her?

Yusuke drew back, flushing slightly in embarrassment.

Kayko wasn't blushing 'slightly'. She was _blushing_. As in, beet red.

"Uh…"

"Ur… YUSUKE, YOU JERK, THAT WAS MY FIRST KISS!"

And then she stomped away, her face flaming and leaving an extremely confused Yusuke on the pavement.

"Jeez, she didn't have to tell it to the whole world. Wait… I just kissed Kayko? How—?! Dammit! That was my first kiss, too! Shit, I just said that out loud!"

And the confusion grew.

* * *

It was the day of the annual first grade Christmas pageant. It was also the last day before winter vacation.

Hiei sat in a row of eighth graders in between Michelle and Sarah, who sat to the left of Yoko. Up towards the middle of the church were Ana and Suichi, pointing and laughing silently at the "cute" little first graders in the pageant.

Then the lights dimmed, a microphone crackled, and a little 1st grade angel stepped up to the podium to begin.

For some reason, call it graduating-class-syndrome, Hiei was swept back into the memories of when he was in the pageant, back when _he_ had been a "cute" little first grader.

_Memory___

_The excitement… the excitement was all around…_

_Kayko, who had been given the position of First Angel Narrator, began her speech by welcoming parents, relatives, staff, students, and Monsignor.___

_Then, Yukina, dressed as the Virgin Mary in light blue robes, came marching down the aisle, Kazuma alongside of her. He looked ridiculous with a black mustache and beard drawn on his face in face crayon and his brown costume was a _bit_ too short, but the tall six-year-old was grinning at everyone and –thing._

_Everything went smoothly for a while, with Sarah as the third narrator and several of the older classes standing up to sing the songs that were assigned to them._

_And then it was Ana's turn. She, dressed as an angel, was supposed to be the Angel Gabriel and announce to the shepherds that the Lord was born. Among the crowd of shepherds she was supposed to be speaking to were Yusuke and Paul. Something was _bound_ to go wrong, and sure enough, it did. For, instead of staying in front of Ana to listen to her speech, they went right past her, onto the altar. Ana, knowing that they "ruined" that part, began her speech, crying throughout the entire thing._

_Still, she got through it and retreated to the altar, kneeling behind the manger that contained the baby doll. Kazuma glared at her, though Yukina, who was supposed to be sitting stock-still, reached out and patted Ana on the shoulder, smiling, before returning to her 'praying' position._

_After that, Michelle took her turn up at the podium, and following her, Suichi introduced the part about the Little Drummer Boy._

_That was Hiei's part. Dressed in colorful clothing and with a drum hanging from around his neck, the boy walked proudly down the aisle, pounding the drum like there was no tomorrow. After all, he had an important part!_

_The three kings came next, one of which was a rather regal-looking Yoko, whose deep purple robes dragged on the floor for about a foot behind him. Setting down his treasure (it was a box wrapped in gold paper) in front of Yukina signified that the pageant was over, and everyone began to sing_ Joy to the World.__

_End Memory_

"Hiei!" Yoko snapped his fingers in front of his friend's face. "Let's go!"

"Wha—? Oh, right."

Slowly, Hiei stood up, stretching like a cat. Together, the two boys left the church with their class and caught up with Suichi and Ana.

"It just gets better and better every year," Ana commented.

"Hn. Not in our case. You sucked."

"Shut up. At least I didn't get so protective over my drum that I _bit_ one of my friends!"

"You weren't my friend, Ana, you were a tagalong."

"Hey!"

"You were."

"Shut up! Was not!"

"Was too."

"Not!"

"Too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"God help us. They're in kindergarten again."

"SHUT UP, YOKO!" Hiei and Ana yelled in unison.

"Look, guys… It's snowing…" Suichi pointed out, tilting his head back to catch snowflakes on his tongue.

The other three looked up and saw that it was so.

The flurry of flakes floated freely through the air, seeming to calm the childish squabble that had arisen.

The world (or at least New York) would soon be covered in white.

* * *

_Notes: So… how was it? I hope I'm not over-doing the whole 'Suichi-Karasu' thing… I'd hate for everyone to get bored of it! And Kayko-Yusuke stuff. I know I was told that romance might seriously deteriorate the quality of this fic, but I was dared to do this by my cousin, greeniceangel. And, yes, up until now, all of the memory flashbacks have been about when the gang was in kindergarten but I decided that, hey, one year older doesn't make a_ lot_ of difference… does it?_

_Anyway, this is the first time I've been able to write anything for this fic in ages! I'm so happy! Will you review to add to that happiness? Please?_

_Ah, yes, and before I forget, I have been paid (in Oreos!) to shamelessly advertise for my dearest cousin, greeniceangel! If you're a Kurama-obsessive, then I suggest you subscribe to her C2, _Cornered Foxes and Thorned Roses,_ 'cause it's just all one-shots about everyone's favorite demon-in-a-human-body! Otherwise, if you love the psychics, then read _My City _or _Instability and Hypocrisy and Murder. _She swears she's doing something about Hiei, but I dunno._

_Thanks for reading! Please review!_

_Thanks to: **slave2anime, Princess Krystal01, poltergeist report 101, and KuramaIsFine**!_


	11. Christmas Volleyball

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

**Warning:** For those of you who don't like cursing... this isn't a good chappie for you. This chapter, according to my wonderful beta for this chapter, Penny, should be rated 'R' for profanity.

**Dedicated to: **Diane, a.k.a. Yani, simply 'cause she's THE BEST friend EVER, I miss her, and she's the one who reminded me of volleyball. Oh, and I also want to dedicate this to Ali, Kat, and the rest of Nine Lives, 'cause WE ROCKED! We're the best volleyball team OLF will ever see.

* * *

Chapter 11: Christmas Volleyball

    "Jesus!" Yoko exclaimed, ducking right before the volleyball took off his head.

    On the other side of the makeshift court, the girls grinned evilly and slapped each others' hands.

    "Yoko! What the hell are you doing!? You're supposed to HIT the damn ball, moron!" Yusuke bellowed, digging through the snow to uncover the ball.

    "You're the fucking moron! Did you see how fast that thing was going? DID YOU!?"

    "Just shut up and play the game, both of you," Suichi reprimanded.

    The Christmas Eve volleyball game was going rather well. Considering that the girls were outnumbered, yes, it was going rather well, indeed. On one side was Hiei, Yoko, Suichi, Paul, Kazuma, and Yusuke. On the other side were Ana, Sarah, Yukina, Kayko, and Kazuma's high school senior sister, Shizuru. The referee was none other than Genkai, girls' volleyball coach and initiator of the scrimmage match going on at the moment. Naturally, there had to be a bribe in order to drag the boys to the match: Either a failing gym grade (no surprise, these happened to be the boys who weren't exactly sports enthusiasts) or a surprise gift—a.k.a. candy.

    "Point: girls."

    "Ms. Genkai, could you at least—"

    "NO! Girls' serve!"

    Ana grinned, caught the ball, and prepared for another serve.

_    One... Two... Three!_

    "FUCK!" Hiei yelled angrily after getting hit in the stomach. "DAMMIT, ANA!"

    "Point: girls."

    "ANA, YOU'RE DEAD! YOU'RE FUCKING **DEAD!**"

    "Hiei, don't curse!" Yukina said, distressed that half the neighborhood had to hear that.

    "Sorry Hiei! My aim was off—I meant to hit Suichi."

    "WHAT!?" The red-head looked... pissed.

    "Did I say that out loud?"

    Shizuru nodded and patted Anastasia on the shoulder.

    Suichi's expression brightened, however, when he realized that he was the only one on his team not nursing bruises.

    "Thanks for taking the hit, Hiei!"

    "TRAITOR! I'll kill you BOTH!"

    Yusuke took control. "Ms. Genkai, wasn't that a foul?"

    "Am I supposed to care?"

    "You're sexist!" Yusuke bellowed.

    "Damn right. Deal with it, dimwit."

    Ana grinned again and served.

    "Out of bounds. Sorry girls. Serve: the dimwits."

    Kazuma stepped out of the court, tried to bounce the ball in the snow, failed, and proceeded to pretend that the ball was Botan's head.

    At least it went over the net. However, Kayko was waiting for it, jumped, and hit it back. Finally, Yoko was able to do something useful and slammed it straight...

    ...at Ana, who was more than glad to implant it into Paul's face.

    "DAMMIT! WHAT THE FUCK IS **WRONG** WITH YOU?!"

    "Man, if this was a _real_ game, she would've been disqualified a _looong_ time ago," Kazuma said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

    "She'd've been _arrested_ a long time ago," Hiei muttered darkly.

    Up next for the girls' team was Yukina. None of the boys was too worried. Then again, none of the boys stayed after school to witness the girls' volleyball practice.

    Yusuke swore as his finger was snapped all the way backwards by the ball.

    "Stop whining. Point: girls."

    "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you, Yusuke!"

    "Ah..."

    The next serve wasn't quite up to Yukina's usual standard, and the boys got possession of the ball.

    Yusuke's serve slammed _into_ the net.

    "Dammit!"

    And then it was Shizuru's turn. Kazuma, standing in the front row, looked extremely frightened.

    "Say your prayers, bro!"

**    Slam!** went the ball into the carrot-haired boy's forearms.

    "Gaaah!"

    "Hey, there's a reason why I was the only freshman on an all-senior volleyball team," Shizuru reminded him, grinning.

    "Gaaah!"

    "Point: girls."

    "Ms. Genkai, what's the score?"

    "Sixteen to five. Better catch up, boys."

    "Yeah, yeah."

    Seven points later, by some fluke, the guys managed to get the ball back into their possession.

    "'C'mon, Suichi!"

    "Yeah, no pressure, no pressure."

_    One... Two... Three... Four!_

    The ball soared up into the air and everyone had to crane their heads to see where it went. And down it came, right above Sarah, who dug it over the net, right over to Hiei. In turn, the boy passed it over the net and it flew over to Kayko, who tossed it up for Yukina to slam over. Yusuke knocked it to Sarah again, who hit it to Kazuma, the poor fool then getting it to Ana. Said power-hitter bashed the ball at Hiei, who braced himself for impact, saying a few prayers as he did so.

    Thank God the snow was soft enough that when he was shoved into the ground, Hiei didn't break any bones.

    "Oh, shit! Hiei, are you okay?"

    Hiei opened his eyes and saw that _she_ was standing over him.

    "No. I'm not okay, you fucking MANIAC! YOU'RE DEAD!" Hiei reached up, dragged Ana down into the snow, and proceeded to shove ice down her back.

    "SHIT!"

    And somehow, the volleyball game turned into a snowball fight.

_Memory_

_    It was just another one of those days when Yusuke, Kazuma, Yoko, Suichi, and Hiei threw around snow, making mini snowmen and pelting the other little kids with snowballs._

    "_Suui?" (1)_

    "_What, Yusuke?"_

    "_Here!"_

_    And, giggling maniacally, Yusuke shoved snow into his friend's face._

    "_COOOOOLD!"_

    "_Duh! It's snooow, Suui." Hiei rolled his pretty little eyes and threw a snowball at a younger boy's snowman._

    "_Hey, I betcha I c'n throw furder den alla you!" Kazuma shouted at the top of his lungs all of a sudden._

    "_Yeah, right, stupid!"_

    "_OOH! HIIIEI SAID A BAAD WOOORD!"_

    "_Stupid, stupid, stupid!"_

    "_OOOOH!"_

    "_Stupid!"_

    "_Watch! Ima throw it furder den you!" with that, Kazuma chucked a rather large boulder of snow across the playground. Yusuke laughed and threw one, going further by about a full inch and a half. Yoko and Suichi also joined in, laughing hysterically._

_    Of course, it wasn't all that fun once Kazuma ran screaming and crying to his older sister after being hit in the eye with a chunk of ice. Guess who threw it?_

_End Memory_

    Genkai couldn't help but grin at the little brats who had actually grown up, physically, at least. Shizuru stood next to the gym teacher, away from the fray, lighting up a cigarette and offering one to Genkai, who accepted.

    "They're such kids."

    "I know," replied the pink-haired woman, smiling slightly. "DIMWITS! What have you learned today?"

    "Absolutely nothing, you bitchy hag!" Yusuke told her, and threw a nice chunk of snow at her. The gym teacher dodged it easily.

    "Next!"

    "Guys aren't made for playing volleyball!" Kazuma said, ducking.

    "Next!"

    "Ana is a FUCKING SADIST!"

    ("That I can't argue with," Genkai muttered in an undertone to Shizuru.)

    "Shut up, Hiei!"

    "Make me, bitch."

    "Gladly!"

    After a brief tussle, Hiei ended up sitting on Ana's stomach.

    "Get off me, jackass!"

    "Make me, bitch."

    "That's the second fucking time you've said that! Get off!"

    "What, do I weigh too much for your weak little stomach?"

    "Yeah right! You weigh, like, three pounds! Do you even eat, you anorexic bastard!?" (2)

    "Ask me that again."

    "JUST GET OFF ME!"

    "I rather like my new seat."

    "HIEI! Yoko! Suichi! Stop laughing! Help me, dammit!"

    "You almost killed me!" Yoko retorted.

    "I didn't mean to!"

    "Too late, Bobby-girl."

    "Ow! I would help, Ana, but I think Yusuke broke a few of my ribs," Suichi groaned, clutching his ribcage. "Agh! Ms. Genkai! Medical help, please!" Genkai sighed, but went to help Suichi.

    "Sarah! Please! I know where you sleep, Sarah! If you don't help, just remember: I KNOW WHERE YOU SLEEP!"

    "Are you hugging his waist, Ana?" Sarah asked seriously, staring at her twin in nothing short of amazement.

    "I'M TRYING TO GET THIS BASTARD OFF ME!"

    Hiei shifted a bit, disengaging Ana's arms. "Try a little harder and I might just have to give you a black eye."

    "You wouldn't! ...Would you?"

    "Ask me that again."

    "Hiei!"

    "Oh, stop whining."

    "I'm—going—to—kill—you! Dammit, I can't breathe!"

    Hiei shifted a bit more.

    "Thanks a lot."

    "No problem. I don't want to be convicted of murder, you know."

    "BASTARD! You don't care about me, you care about jail time!"

    "What, I'm supposed to care about tagalongs?"

    "Damn right! And for the last freaking time, I'M NOT A TAGALONG!"

    "Don't yell in my ear, tagalong."

    "Hiei!"

    Said eighth grader looked over to his sister.

    "What?"

    "Stop torturing Anastasia!"

    "I'm not _really_ torturing you, am I, Ana?"

    "Like hell. Seriously, _do_ you eat?"

    "You're the one who shoves it down my throat, Mother Hen."

    "Do not! Jackass."

    "Still, stop it, Hiei!" Yukina protested.

    Hiei sighed dejectedly, but clambered off of Ana and held a hand out to his friend.

    "Thanks a lot."

    "No problem. You're lucky Yukina sympathizes with you."

    "Oh, you know you love me, Hiei."

    "Hn. I think NOT. In another dimension, maybe."

    "That's so mean!"

    "Deal with it, tagalong."

    "JACKASS!" Ana kicked hard at Hiei's shin. The boy, who wasn't expecting the attack, clutched his leg and swore profusely. The girl only laughed.

    Kazuma turned to Yusuke. "Man, that's so weird. Are we sure they're friends?"

    "You'd better frickin' believe it," Yusuke muttered, slamming snow into his best friend's face.

    "Holy HELL that's cold!"

    "See, we're friends, aren't we, Kazuma?"

    "Hiei... Yukina..." Heads snapped to Genkai. Whose wouldn't, when she had spoken in such a gentle undertone? Beside her, Shizuru had her arm around a woman who was sobbing profusely.

    Yukina ran to her mother, Hiei following slowly.

    Genkai motioned for the other teens to run along home.

    "My children," Hina (3) gasped, and threw her arms around them. Yukina settled into the embrace, trying to comfort her mother, but Hiei simply stiffened.

    "What happened?" Was he really the one who was asking that? That sense of dread deep within him...

    Hina looked at her son with mournful eyes that told him everything.

* * *

_Notes: (1) My made-up nickname for Suichi. I like the way it sounded in my head, but this was the only spelling that came even remotely close. Dunno if it means anything, and please don't tell me. (2) I know, this isn't important, but that's my favorite line in the entire chapter, possibly in the entire fic. (3) If I recall, this is Hiei and Yukina's mom's name, but I'm not positive. Tell me if I'm wrong and I'll fix it._

_I love playing volleyball, even though my wrist isn't in wonderful shape. And I love snow. And, to tell the truth, I LOVE cliffhangers. So, this chapter was the BOMB for me._

_Pairings: I know, I know, people have been asking me for a long time. **Slight** (and confused) Yusuke-Kayko, **slight** Kazuma-Yukina, Botan-Her Fiancée (whoever _that _might be), and, as we all know, Karasu's been comin' on to Suichi for quite a long time now, though that isn't exactly a pairing, it's a... stalking, ne?_

_I don't intend for this to become a full-blown romance fic, though, because I don't like that idea. I love the little chibi YYH charries that scamper around through my brain more than I do the idea of them all hooking up. Speaking of chibi YYH charries, has anyone else seen the pic of mini Yusuke hugging the teddy bear, mini Hiei with the lollipop, and mini Kurama sleeping? It's so—so CUTE!_

_So, review! Though, I can tell you, it won't depend on how many people review for me to post up the next chapter. It goes up as soon as it's finished._

Thanks to: **slave2anime, Princess Krystal01, KuramaIsFine, poltergeist report 101, Kuranga108, Arano Honou, **and **erosgirl. **You guys rock!


	12. Eggnog

_Reposted mere hours later..._

_Wah! I forgot to proofread this in the Document Manager, and then I went back and realized that I forgot the thingamabobs, so everything was scrunched up! So, I had to do that export thingamabob! Gah!_

**Disclaimer:** This authoress claims no part of Yu Yu Hakusho. ::sob, sob::

Chapter 11: Eggnog

Hiei sat in the living room of his house, contemplating the presents under the tree. There were some from friends and a few from relatives, but his mother still liked playing Santa and put them under the tree at around midnight.

Speaking of his mother, she'd gotten in her car and driven off to tell other relatives the news, leaving him and Yukina in the house alone.

Or at least he was in the house alone.

Yukina was outside, on the snow-covered porch, crying her eyes out. Hiei knew he should probably call her back in before she froze to death, but he just couldn't bring himself to tear his eyes off of that one little package in the very back of all the rest of the presents.

It was wrapped in heavy brown paper and twine, and it had no doubt been wrapped in some kind of postal outer covering before that.

That was the type of present that Dad had sent last year.

"Just shut up," Hiei muttered to the images that were flashing in the back of his mind. "Just shut up."

He got up and walked out the door, not even bothering to put on a sweater over his t-shirt, sitting down next to Yukina.

"Hiei… what are we going to do?"

"Like hell I know." His eyes flashed to his sister, who looked rather terrible, to tell the truth. Hiei sighed and put an arm around her.

"We'll be fine, Yuki (1)."

His twin sighed, too, and nodded, leaning against her brother for support.

* * *

"Hey, sis, what was up with Yukina's mom?" Kazuma asked as he glanced up from his comic book.

"Why should I tell you, baby bro?" Shizuru asked, flicking the lighter cap on and off.

"Would you stop making that click-y sound?! Jeez! But… could you tell me, pleeeeease, Shizuru?"

"'S not my secret to give away."

"But still! I wanna know if something's wrong. Like… you know."

"Like, I don't know, Kazuma. Hey, don't you have some homework or something?"

"Shizuru! It's Christmas Eve!"

"Do I look like I care?"

* * *

Suichi clicked on a link.

"Hey. Hey, Yoko. Look at this."

Said twin jumped up off the floor and stumbled (too much eggnog, perchance?) over to the computer.

"What?"

"_That._"

"Oh."

It took Yoko a few minutes to read the entire article.

"Yeah, so?"

"Put three and three together. What do you get?"

"Nine."

Suichi sighed. Definitely too much eggnog.

"A major suicide bombing in Iraq. Three American troops were killed. Hiei's mom comes to the volleyball game sobbing. Do you see anything overly obvious?"

"Well, yes, I do. I just like pissing my brother off."

Suichi sighed again.

"Doesn't mean one of them was Hiei's dad, though."

"Yoko, you're being overly-logical. Given the information, what can you assume?"

"If you assume, you make an ass out of you and me."

Suichi sighed for the third time.

"Okay, then, Smart One. What happened?" the red-head asked, finally giving up.

"It's none of my business what happened."

Suichi gaped. His brother… wasn't curious?! ...APOCALYPSE!

"Listen to me, Suichi. Two-thirds of the eighth grade lives with one parent. And more than half of that two-thirds is missing a father. We're included, remember? So whatever happened to Hiei's dad—it isn't our business."

Man, even on eggnog, Yoko was really, really logical.

* * *

"Mom?"

Atsuko, sober for once, looked at her son.

"Huh?"

"Love ya."

Atsuko stared for a moment.

"Yeah. Same." She paused. "But you're not getting into the liquor cabinet."

"MOM!"

"SHUT IT! DON'T PRETEND THAT WASN'T WHAT YOU WERE THINKING!"

"IT WASN'T! Jeez, you try to have a nice moment and then it just BLOWS up in your face. Screw it, man, I'm never doin' that again."

"Yeah, yeah."

* * *

The night was dark and the moon was full. And eleven teenagers slept, dreaming not of sugarplums and fairies and presents—but rather, of the way things had once been.

_Dream_

_The Christmas music played softly over the speakers as the children chomped on chips and chattered incessantly. This was the Christmas party._

"_Ho ho ho!" came the jolly chortle. Shrieks erupted all over the auditorium and a figure in red and white was glomped—literally GLOMPED—by a mass of hyperactive children. He made his way up to a chair on the stage and sat down, waiting for the children to sit on his lap and recite to him what they wanted for Christmas._

_Yoko and Suichi made their way up there first._

"_Ho ho ho! And what are _your_ names?"_

"_I'm Yoko and this is Suui and we're twins and we want LOTSES and LOTSES of candy and presents and—"_

"_What kind of presents?"_

"_Um… shiny stuff!"_

"_And… and I want… a lot of plants and flowers and a garden," Suichi put in._

"_Ho ho ho! I'll see what I can do, then!"_

_A picture was taken, and the next children went up. This continued for a while, until Yusuke got sent up._

_And what did Yusuke do?_

"_MAAAAAAAH!" he yelled, a sort of war cry right before he pulled down the Santa beard. And then he really screamed._

"_SANTA! IT'S—IT'S—SANTA'S **BOOTLEG!**"_

_Everything erupted into pure, unadulterated chaos as children scattered everywhere, yelling at the top of their lungs, running for their mothers and fathers._

"_COOL!" Hiei yelled above it all. "Look, Yuki! Daddy's Santa!"_

_End Dream

* * *

_

Hina wasn't back in the morning, but her sister called the house to tell the twins that everything was okay, and that their mother wouldn't be back for a long while.

"Hiei. Hey, Hiei," Yukina said softly, shaking her brother where he lay on the couch after having fallen asleep there last night. "Hiei, do you want to open the presents?"

"Wha—?" he asked groggily before: "Oh. Sure."

Together they went through the gifts quickly, in silence, exchanging 'thank-you'-s every so often. And then they were at that final package, the one wrapped in heavy paper. Both stared at it for a moment or two before Hiei got up and snatched it.

He tossed it into the wastebasket.

"Hiei! What did you do that for?" Yukina asked, looking as though she wanted to dig through the garbage and look for the package.

"That's probably the last thing we'll ever have from Daddy and you just threw it out! Why?" The tears threatened to flood Yukina's eyes.

Hiei shrugged, barely repressing a sigh.

"The past isn't worth living in," was his answer.

Yusuke sighed.

* * *

Atsuko, passed out on the floor, sighed in her sleep.

Oh sure, so she didn't even bother to lay out the goods before she drank herself silly. That was wonderful, just wonderful. Not that he was expecting all that great gifts, anyway. Atsuko had probably gone shopping, like, the week before and hadn't even gotten around to wrapping the presents. For the record, Yusuke had, in fact, bought, wrapped, and hidden _her_ gift (because Kayko was being a nag, but that was beside the point).

"Merry Christmas, Mom."

* * *

_Notes: (1) Yuki. As far as I've seen, there are quite a few fanfics that use this as Yukina's nickname. _Bobby: It works fine as long as you don't mix it up with Eiri Yuki from Gravitation. Now THAT's a scary thought. Like, 'Hiei sighed and put an arm around him. "We'll be fine, Yuki."' Hmm, now, that doesn't sound like a bad idea… ::ducks the rain of tin cans and tomatoes thrown by readers:: HEY! IT WAS JUST A SUGGESTION!

_Yes, this is the last Christmas chapter. Sorry if I overloaded any/all non-Christians out there with my fanatic Catholic traditions. I'll stop now. Plus, it would probably be beyond my level of writing skill to actually write a chapter for the current holiday. I have to be at least a month or two in advance… ::rolls eyes::_

_Uhm, well, if you want to see more of any specific character, canon or (gods forbid) OC, just tell me—PLEASE! I don't want anyone to be unsatisfied because I neglected your fave charrie._

_And, finally: If ever you're waiting for me to post up the next chapter of either this or Trick Questions, then just look on my profile. I update it a LOT. At the very bottom of my bio, usually I'll have up a 'diary' section. There's useless stuff and then there's the status of the fics I'm writing. Just check up on it if you're feeling antsy._

_Anyway, thanks to all who reviewed (too…lazy…to…check…again…). I'm really sorry to that one person who asked about the picture… I lost it! I searched long and hard and found… nothing! If I find it again, I SWEAR I'll give you the address (unless you miraculously find it before I do…)._

_Please review?_


	13. Amadeus

DISCLAIMER: Last time I checked, **I** belonged to **Kurama**. Heh.

Chapter 12: Amadeus

_How did I end up here?_ Hiei wondered groggily as he pushed himself off of the floor to slam a hand on his beeping alarm clock. _Did I fall out of bed—again?_

Apparently so.

But it was 6:00 in the morning and there was school, thus leaving no time for him to contemplate the exact occurrences of the night before.

There was school. The first day back after winter break.

Damn school. Damn it to Hell.

* * *

Yukina turned mournful eyes on her best friend.

"Yukina… what's wrong? Tell me, please!" Kayko pleaded for the seventieth time that day.

"Oh—no—it's—Kayko, have you ever lost someone very dear to you?"

Kayko thought back. Well, there was her dog, Snowy… and her parakeet, Monique… her grandmother had died before she was born, so… no, not really.

Who could Yukina have lost, though? Looking around the schoolyard, Kayko found that Hiei was sitting in the corner somewhere, headphones securely over his ears... and Hina had driven them to school, so that couldn't be it… a grandparent, maybe? Or—what was his name?—Amadeus! No, Amadeus _couldn't_ have died…

But he could have… And Yukina would be devastated, Kayko knew that for sure.

"Not Amadeus!"

Yukina blanked, staring at her friend.

"Who…?" Then: "Amadeus…"

Yukina began to laugh, weakly first before escalating to a fully-formed one, and then one that seemed choked by hysteria.

"My goldfish…? Hiei flushed him down the toilet years ago…"

And she continued laughing.

Funny how it only made her feel worse.

Question marks danced over Kayko's head.

* * *

"Okay, so, pencils out, calculators on desks, books in your backpacks, and get ready to fail. No, just joking. Well, maybe not, isn't that right?"

No one answered the math teacher, though half of the class glared at him.

Suichi was strangely calm. He'd listened to classical music (Mozart, to be exact) the night before (though half-way through the night, Yoko had somehow managed to switch it with Linkin Park), so he was feeling rather relaxed. He had had about ten hours of sleep. He'd eaten tainted waffles (dear God, the SUGAR in those things!) for breakfast, but at least it was something. Plus, he knew this topic inside and out, backwards and front, this way a—

_Fwap!_ went the test papers into Suichi's face. He would have glared at Paul, had he not been in such a serene mood.

So, yes, this time he was going to pass. Not with flying colors, no. With, erm… damn, writing wasn't his best subject… With… really… magnificent and… um… colorful… colors. Yah. Most definitely.

_Scratchscratch_ went his pencil rapidly over the paper, working with both speed and accuracy.

And then the Dreaded Shadow fell over his test. Karasu was leaning over his shoulder, reading his answers and leaning over his shoulder and distracting Suichi with his presence and _leaning—over—his—freaking—shoulder!_

_JUST—GO—AWAY!_ Suichi shouted in his mind. Teachers, aside from being evil mutants (for not all mutants were evil—look at Logan and Scott and Jean and Rogue and Bobby…) from the planet XYZ (for XYZ was the name of the triangle he was currently trying to figure out the side of) who had eyes in the backs of their heads (they lied! They lied, dammit! They _did_ have four eyes. Or six, depending on whether or not they had glasses.) and absolutely no lives outside of terrorizing their students (why else would they have taken the jobs?) also had telepathic powers (how _else_ would one explain the fact that they knew _everything _about their students' social lives?), but were too black-hearted to heed their students' pleas to stop hovering and GET AWAY!

Karasu reached out, got a hold of Suichi's finger, and guided it away from the little π on the eighth grader's calculator, and onto the button labeled 'SIN' _(Oh, that's right, opposite over hypotenuse)_.

_He—touched—me!... He saved me from ruining that problem!... But that—that—_

Strangled cries of frustration threatened to rise up from Suichi's throat. He stifled them, though, and breathed a silent sigh of relief when Karasu (_finally_!) left to pick on Paulie a little bit.

…_If I chuck my calculator at him, will he know it was me?

* * *

_

Yoko stared at the board.

Gifted. How—friggin'—fun.

Mozart. That's what they were learning about. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the baroque era of music, etc., etc., that was what they were learning.

WHO CARED?!

Well, at least they got to watch a movie. _Amadeus_. Hmph. That Salieri guy was a nutcase, that was for sure—who in HELL admitted to murdering one of the world's best composers?

Yoko threw a note at Hiei.

_Didn't your sister have a fish named Wolfgang?_

Amadeus, bozo.

_Didn't you say it was evil?_

It was.

_What happened to it?_

Just shut up and watch the movie.

But of course, now Hiei was thinking about the stupid fish.

_Memory_

_Hiei peered into the fishtank._

_He and Yukina had had Amadeus ever since about kindergarten, and at age 10, Hiei knew that something was terribly wrong with this picture. Fish sure as Hell didn't live this long, no way, no how._

_And there was something really wrong with the way the red-eyed fish looked at the twins… as if they were the pets and he the master and not the other way around—and it seemed like he was the type of master who got arrested for abuse of pets. The look was extremely frightening, especially after watching horror movies for six hours straight._

_After all, killer birds (1), killer fish—there wasn't all that much distinction between the two, was there? Okay, so land/air and water… sure, whatever._

_So, one night, after Yukina had gone to sleep, Hiei snuck into her oh-so-neat room and peered into the fishtank._

_And then, he unplugged the filter and everything else, hoisted the aquarium up, and crept into the bathroom. And then, slowly but surely, he dumped most of the water into the tub. The rest—and Amadeus—went into the toilet._

_But the look that the doomed fish gave Hiei right before Amadeus was swallowed up by the whirling vortex of water—that look would haunt the boy for the rest of his life and was the source of many of Hiei's nightmares henceforth._

_End Memory_

The fish was evil.

The movie _Finding Nemo _was even more evil. After all, Nemo found his way to his dad… why couldn't Amadeus find his way home to the twins? The very prospect of a killer fish (who had somehow mutated in the dingy sewers of New York) on its way home to clamp its now huge piranha-like teeth into Hiei's neck scared the twin out of his brains.

And Yukina wondered why he'd come out of the theater pale and babbling.

_Holy crap, is his hair **orange**?!_ (2) Yoko wrote.

Holy crap, I think it is.

_Holy crap…_

Karasu watched this movie.

_Oh, yeah._

Stupid movie.

* * *

_**Notes**: (1) The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock. No, I haven't watched The Birds, though at the age of about five, I was introduced to Psycho, the original version. I almost died of terror because I thought the lady made of bones was going to come and kill me._

_(2) Generally in the baroque period, the men powdered their hair different colors. Blue, blonde, green (I think), and, as Yoko pointed out, orange. I can't remember if this was actually in Amadeus, but I thought it was funny._

_Why was my main theme throughout this chapter Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? I dunno. I guess because it occurred to me in the middle of the night that I can't find my sheet music for 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' and I really wanted to play it. Yes, I've watched Amadeus (well, most of it) and I don't think it's that stupid. I also just liked the thought of a murderous fish called Amadeus who terrorized Hiei into killing him and forevermore being terrified of the movie _Finding Nemo_. It's a very _Tell-Tale Heart_-esque. Except without the killing… for now… ::evil laughter::_

_Ah, well. I promise I'll try to update soon. Just review, 'kay? Thanks!_

* * *

**Responses:**

Yay! I'm finally doing this again!!!

**slave2anime—**::sigh:: Gravitation is AWESOME! Thanks for reviewing!!!

**KuramaIsFine—**Oh, dude, don't get down just 'cause some idiot hates your story! This one person flamed YSUtS! twice and Trick Questions, too. You're an awesome writer—what other people say doesn't matter. Thank you so much for reviewing!

**pr101—**:D I'm going to read and review one of your stories right after I post this up! Thanks so much for your reviews!

**escptheshdw835, AnimeSiren, Kuranga108, and Lachwen—**Thanks so much!

**Anonymous Reader—**Ehm… I updated! Please, no rampage!! Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**HarmonyHanyou—**Hmm… I'm not really sure why there aren't many Hanukkah fics… Maybe it's because there aren't very many Japanese Jews, or so I'm told. Though, now, you've given me something to think about. Hmm… Thanks so much for everything!


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